Perfectly Insignificant
by 67OtakuGirl24X3
Summary: The sequel type thing for Jaded Miracle. Daisy Ueda, Kiseki and Cyrus's daughter, has plenty things to be insecure over: having 2 fathers, her plain appearance, her clumsiness, being an airhead, having no magical powers... But to her, life is perfect. Even though she knows she's unimportant. Reviews are loved!
1. Chapter 1

"Well, Claire… I guess this is good-bye." I speak these words in a choked voice even though I'd seen this coming for a long time. Like everyone else in the family, my cousin- Claire Potter- had shown signs of magical ability since she was quite young. Me, on the other hand… I've never so much as accidentally made a small item float. Still, I refused to give up hope that I would receive a letter from Hogwarts, no matter how feeble the optimism became. Even though I did have doubts that I was a witch, it still hurt incredibly when Claire got her letter and I didn't.

Well... Let me paint a picture for you. All in all, I live a great life that I'm quite pleased with. First off, I'm pretty content with how I look: my eyes are hazel and decently big; I've got loads of blonde hair on my head, rippling midway down my back in semi-curly ringlets; I'm scrawny, but that doesn't really bother me. I'm loved the way I am, why would I want to change anything? I mean, yes, I kind of wish I had magic powers like so many of my family members… But _just _kind of. I mean, my father is a Squib- someone with at least one magical parent but no powers themselves- and apparently so was my great-grandma! So having the mere abilities of a Muggle doesn't faze me that much.

While we're on the topic of family… I never met my real parents. My mum was a Muggle-born troublemaker, expelled from Hogwarts in her fourth year. She had me when she was only _15_- can you believe it?- and she barely even knew my dad. The only information I have about him is that he was a Muggle. So, no witch-ness for me. But the thing is, I really don't care that my mum gave me up. Why would I want to be raised by an uncaring, irresponsible woman like her? Besides, I _love _my parents- the ones that adopted me when I was about a week old. There's one major problem though: most people have a mum and a dad, while I have two fathers. I honestly don't see why so many people find that so _wrong. _Daddy and Papa love me to pieces and take much better care of me than some straight couples care for _their _kids!

I'll fully introduce you to my parents. Papa- he's the Squib, and his name is Cyrus. I've never met his side of the family… Apparently, his siblings treated him worse than an animal and his parents shunned him since he ruined their family's reputation of turning out perfectly fine witches and wizards. If what he's told me about them is true, he really _was _the odd one out, and not just because he's a Squib: he's probably the sweetest man you'll ever meet.

The Ueda family- Daddy's side, that is- on the other hand, is fantastic. You see, Daddy has 2 brothers and 3 sisters. His oldest brother had only one son, as his only younger sister had just a daughter; his middle sister- Claire's mum and the wife of James Potter II- had 3 kids, and the other 2 siblings had two children each. Not to mention my grandpa had a brother with two kids, and a sister with an adopted son… But those details aren't really as important. I'm the closest to my Grandma and Grandpa Ueda, my 5 aunts, 5 uncles, and 9 cousins. You should see my family tree sometime, it's really something!

Now, about that scene this story started out with… You know, me saying good-bye to Claire as she heads off for Hogwarts without me… I don't see how you could forget it, it's just at the top of the page, you could scroll up if you like… Well, anyhoo, I'm not going to return to that. Not just yet, anyway. Before we can get to that extremely important moment of my life, I have to tell you about other events that occurred first. But where to start? Well, not _start, _the story has obviously already begun- I know! I'll explain my first day of kindergarten.

I had never been to school before, since Daddy didn't want me to leave for preschool. I was scared, of course, but at the same time really excited: I was wearing a brand new pink dress with white frills on the edges, plus Papa put some lovely red ribbons in my hair. Besides, I couldn't be scared when I knew my best friend ever was going to be coming with me. As it turned out, Aunt Kathy and Uncle James decided to let Claire attend the same school as me! Whenever I started getting nervous, I remembered I would be with Claire all day and my troubles faded.

However, Papa claimed that he was feeling under the weather. This struck me as odd: he looked completely healthy to me. "Come now, Cyrus, you can't let a little stomach bug keep you from coming with us…" Daddy insisted a little more sternly than I thought he intended.

"Yes, and I truly do want to, but…" Papa trailed off, his demeanor making it obvious that he agreed with Daddy but for some odd reason wanted to counter him. That was especially unusual, since my fathers never fought… "Ah, never mind, I'm speaking nonsense. Let's head on out!" Papa exclaimed, wrapping his hand around my own. Face lighting up, I used my free one to grab Daddy's, and I hopped out the door with my dads close behind.

I was in the highest of spirits as we walked about 5 blocks to the kindergarten. I let Daddy and Papa swing my arms back and forth, giggling as I made it an effort to step over every single crack in the sidewalk. More than often, I beamed upward to see both of my parents smiling serenely; that being said, I didn't understand why something else in Daddy's face- his eyes, maybe- clearly displayed some sort of sadness, regret, and a tad bit of frustration. My 5 year old mind decided not to dwell on it, so I instead continued on my upbeat way.

"Well, here we are, sweetheart," Papa declared at one point. The very second he halted walking, I froze and stopped my smiling. Here I imagined going to a relatively tiny, single-story schoolhouse with flowery bushes lining the walkway plus rainbows and butterflies decorating the windows. This was completely off: the brick building was humongous, having about 4 stories and taking up at least an acre of land. Kids of quite a variety were bustling up the front steps of the structure in mobs. Some older girls that I'd never seen before in my life squealed "Aww" when they saw me. I clung to Daddy's pants and hid behind his leg, my eyes watering.

"Don't worry darling, just stick with me," Daddy instructed soothingly. Placing his hand on my head, he led me further down the sidewalk to a path that much less people were following. Apparently, it led straight into the room of my kindergarten class. Now _this _looked more like how I pictured it: lengthy bookshelves lined with thin books; colorful paper cutouts of shapes hanging from the ceiling; signs displaying slogans such as _"Reach for the stars!"_ blanketing the walls; square tables with baskets of crayons in the center and colored chairs lining their edges. I automatically identified my teacher as the young woman wearing a plaid dress, her hair in a braid, and a friendly smile on her face.

I drew in a gasp as I acknowledged the woman having a conversation with my new teacher. She had short, wavy, light brown hair, and eyes the same exact emerald green as Daddy's behind a pair of glasses. In other words, my Aunt Kathy. She held the hand of none other than Claire, immediately recognizable with her wild black hair and green eyes. Her dad- Uncle James- would occasionally creep his hand toward his daughter's waist, quickly tickle her, and laugh as she jumped with a shriek, smacked his arm, and clung back to Aunt Kathy.

"Claire! HI!" I squealed, slipping my hands free and bolting over to my cousin. The irritation melted out of her expression and she grinned broadly.

"Daisy!" I giggled joyously as we pounced over to each other and hugged. She whipped her head around to look at our teacher. "This is Ms. Emmeline, _she _is going to be our teacher," she indicated matter-of-factly as if she'd been telling people this for months. Ms. Emmeline kneeled down and smiled straight at me.

"Hello, dear! Welcome to my class! You're Claire's cousin?"

I nodded; then, I assumed everyone just knew Claire and I were cousins, but now I realized that she only knew this because Aunt Kathy had been going, "Nice to see you, baby brother," to Daddy.

"Um, hi, miss…! I'm Daisy," I told her. It wasn't often I came across people who weren't related to me… I guess I didn't have the opportunity to embrace my true shyness. But it turned out that I really _was _timid: I soon found myself staring sheepishly at the ground, hiding behind Papa's legs as more people showed up.

Once all of my classmates were present with their parents, we were instructed to sit in a circle on a carpet in the center of the room. I sat on Daddy's lap while he wrapped his arms around me protectively, plus I held Papa's hand at the same time.

"Okay kids, we're going to go around the circle, and you'll introduce yourselves and family," Ms. Emmeline instructed in a high, friendly tone. She looked to her right, where Claire lay sprawled out on Uncle James's with her head in Aunt Kathy's lap. "Let's begin with you, dear."

Claire lifted an eyebrow and sat upright. "I'm Claire Potter. My grandpa, Harry Potter? He's _really _famous. This is my daddy, and this is my mummy. I have a big brother Edwin, who's _wimpy, _and my big sister Marie is kinda snooty," she droned.

"O-oh, that's, very nice, Claire…" Ms. Emmeline tried to widen her smile as she looked at me. "What about you, sweetie?"

I hugged Daddy's arms tighter and shared a timid grin with everyone. "My name is Daisy. Claire is my cousin! We're best friends." Claire nodded sharply to confirm my words, and for some reason it reassured me. "And these two," I motioned at Daddy and Papa, "are my daddies. I love them a bunch!"

Papa chuckled sadly as everyone's eyes widened simultaneously and their smiles faltered. He nodded sideways at Daddy. "He's my cousin, see. Ever since Daisy's mum walked out, he's helped me with her, and he's grown so much on her that she's come to thinking of him as another dad," he explained. I had never heard this story before, but Papa gently shot me a look informing me that I should just go along with it.

"I see… Please let Daisy do the talking, though, sir," Ms. Emmeline murmured.

"I'm sorry," Papa replied calmly. He patted my hand and moved ever so slightly closer to me.

The rest of the day was wonderful. We scribbled pictures and got to know each other; I'm pretty sure I made a few new friends! The trip home was super pleasant, but before heading to bed, I heard something that made my fantastic day considerably worse.

I had been hugging my stuffed toy kitten to my chest, decked out in a My Little Pony nightgown, when I walked in my parents' room to say good night. They were having a conversation, and since I knew better than to interrupt adults while they're talking, I took a step sideways and waited until they were done. If only I'd gone back to my room to wait: I wasn't enjoying what I was hearing.

"-can't just lie like that around our daughter!" Daddy was hissing. Papa had his eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

"I was lying to protect her, Kiseki. She's a smart little girl, she knows that story wasn't true."

"That makes matters worse, if anything!" Daddy snapped. I never, _ever _heard him sound so exasperated, or seen my dads looking angry at each other. "She'll think it's okay to tell such big lies if you do it!"

Papa sighed irritably. "Yes, lying is awful, I just may go to Hell for doing it I front of Daisy, but I assure you it'll help her in the long run. So many other people will find it unnatural and wrong for a child to have two parents of the same gender; it'll be so hard for her to make friends if the other kids' parents don't approve of us! Life is cruel, Kiseki. It's how it is."

Daddy got dangerously close to Papa's face, and for once he didn't do so to give him a kiss. "Don't you DARE tell ME that life is cruel. Are you forgetting who I am? What I've been through?" It was at this point that I couldn't take it anymore. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I spun around and dashed down the hall to my bedroom. This couldn't be happening… Daddy and Papa _couldn't _fight...

I felt like it was all my fault: after all, I was the topic they were mainly arguing over. For a five year old girl, that guilt was nearly too much to handle. I had to go to my second day of school suffering from a headache due to crying throughout the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, all the stories I have to tell… I actually have a list jotted down! Excuse me while I close my eyes and select a topic at random…. Alright! My youngest aunt's wedding it is.

I had been three at the time, so I remember it _very _vaguely, but I've watched the videos my family kept of it multiple times. Daddy is the second youngest out of my grandparents' six kids, his only younger sibling being his sister Alexandra. Even though she was still young- 25 years old- we didn't expect her to end up married, seeing as the man she loved so much ended up leaving her "for her own protection" (he came from a big line of Dark wizards, and they were all after him). Even if he and his relatives had a peachy relationship, that wouldn't change the fact that Grandpa refused to let a vampire marry his youngest daughter.

Well… Leon Dimanche was _sort of _a vampire. He hadn't been bitten- just scratched by a vampire's tooth- so he only had some vampire-like traits. That being said… So little of his system had been infected by the vampire DNA that Grandpa, who was both a Healer and Muggle doctor, was able to extract it once he got back together with my Aunt Alex. Now everything's wonderful with them, so Leon felt totally comfortable getting on one knee and asking to be Aunt Alex's husband!

To honor the groom's heritage, the wedding took place in France, with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower in the background. I don't remember much about the scenery, but I know it was remarkable. Same with the guest list, although _that_ I remember. For now, these people will just be names to you, but they'll fall into play eventually: My Aunt Raye with her husband Scorpius Malfoy and their twin daughters Lucia and Lucina; Aunt Raye's twin brother, Uncle Raito, with his wife Presilla and son Jasper; my Uncle Austin with his wife Radha and their sons Sai and Thomas; Aunt Kathy with Marie, Edwin, Claire, and Uncle James; naturally Papa, Daddy, and I; Grandma's mum and dad; Grandpa's brother with his wife Catherin, son Sam accompanied by his wife Charlotte, plus daughter Kaitlin with her son Danny; Catherin's twin Caitlyn with her husband Michael Corner and kids Justin and Kiersten; Justin's wife Madison plus their daughter Jordin and triplet sons (Colten, Brandon, and Ivan); Grandpa's sister with her husband Colin Creevey and adopted son Dennis. Big family, right? There were also some of Aunt Alex's friends and (soon to be Uncle) Leon's coworkers. As tragic as it is, apparently Leon's entire family were either dead or in jail.

Aunt Alex looked absolutely _gorgeous. _Her makeup was done so as not to make its presence too obvious, while at the same time giving her face a stunning highlight. Her dark brown hair with lighter brown tips had been thoroughly combed and tied into an elegant braid under her translucent veil. The dress, of course, completed the look. Pure white in color, it was both strapless and open back with minuscule pinkish pearls lining the hem above her chest. The dress's tail rippled a good two feet behind her. Anyone would widen their eyes or catch their breath at the sight of her.

Although, I looked pretty adorable myself. My long hair had been pulled into two braids, like two miniature blonde duplicates of Aunt Alex's. The dress I wore was quite something, consisting of all ruffles with each one different color (orange, yellow, pink, blue, green; orange, yellow, pink, blue, green; and so on). My chubbiness (Daddy and Papa quite spoiled me, it took me until I was about 9 to start thinning out) was barely noticeable in my eye-catching getup. The white pantyhose and shiny black shoes with flowers on the buckles just completed the look.

"Oh my _goodness. _This is just about the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen in my life!" Papa breathed overdramatically, scooping me into his strong arms while I giggled. He ran a hand gingerly over my head and kissed my nose. "Now do you know how to do your job, missy?"

I nodded assertively. "Yes! I spwinkle dese fwowers," I held up a golden basket containing numerous flower petals of quite a variety, "all ova da fwoor when me walks down de aisle up to mista Weon!" I confirmed.

Daddy poked my cheek affectionately, his other hand on Papa's shoulder. "Perfect. Are you ready, honeybunches?"

I nodded perhaps overenthusiastically- I can't help but wonder if my bursts optimism partook in my current, er… dottiness. Well, no matter! Firmly grasping the basket in both of my pudgy little hands, I skipped off toward my destination.

The sight of all the eyes that were simultaneously turning toward me made me stop dead and utter a tiny gasp. However, quickly realizing I recognized so many people, I regained my bright smile and clenched flower petals in my fist. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as if I was preparing to run for the Olympics before springing forward to proceed to my destination. I tossed the colorful petals here and there with the most gleeful expression on my face. Surely a three year old girl couldn't feel more alive.

"You did très bien, little one," Leon whispered to me out of the corner of his mouth. Gently swinging my basket in front of me, I giggled both because I found his smooth French accent comical and I was just plain giddy.

Soon afterwards, Aunt Alex was present on stage too. An old man with a big book droned on about stuff during which I'm pretty sure I fell asleep standing up. My round hazel eyes blinked open, though, to see my aunt wrap her arms around the golden-brown haired French man's neck, and the couple was kissing passionately.

So Leon Dimanche was officially my uncle now.

The rest of the wedding wasn't nearly as dull as those few minutes of speeches had been. Food from three cultures was served: Japanese to honor Grandpa's dead father, British to honor the rest of Daddy's family, and French to honor Leon- _Uncle _Leon, that is. Besides the 5-layer intricately decorated wedding cake, there was such a wide variety of the gourmet appetizers and dishes that I was unable to sample it all as I desired to. Not that I had much time to sit down and eat, since just about everyone wished to hold my pudgy little self on their lap at least once. See, I was then one of the two "babies" of the family, and unlike Claire (the other "baby"), I didn't bite people.

The music surrounding us eventually faded out and a slow song started up. Wiping cake off of each other's faces with lace napkins, Uncle Leon and Aunt Alex linked their gloved hands and strode out onto the floor. Without losing eye contact for even a second, they wrapped their arms around one another and stepped in time to some dance that had to have been choreographed. Well, maybe not: they love each other so much that I bet their minds are at least somewhat in sync.

About halfway through the song, all the other couples joined the newlyweds on the dance floor. How odd it looked, with all the men in casual tuxes partnered with women in lovely dresses, and then in the midst of them all Daddy and Papa in the same ensemble just in different colors… I'm sure if you looked beyond skin deep, though, you'd see that the love burning inside of them matched all the other couples'.

That mushy song soon came to an end and some peppier music came on. Aunt Alex had a cheesy little dance lasting about 20 seconds with all three of her brothers, plus did the same thing for a bit more than 10 seconds each with Papa, Uncle James, and Uncle Scorpius. There was another slower, more touching song during which Aunt Alex danced with a teary Grandpa. It was so sweet and awkward that you just had to laugh at it. Amidst one of my giggling fits, I felt someone tugging on my hand and opened my eyes to see it was Claire. We both trotted out onto the floor and frolicked around among all the adults. I fell on my butt a lot, but it was totally worth it.

I don't even remember falling asleep. Maybe it was after my third slice of cake, or maybe it was while Daddy held me in his arms and rocked me gently to some soothing music provided by Uncle Leon's prized violin. Either way, when I woke up I was curled up on a couch at home, sucking my thumb with my head in Papa's lap. "Well hi there, Sleeping Beauty," Papa murmured under the hum of the TV. Blinking and putting on a sleepy smile, I sat up.

"It's late, munchkin. You belong in bed," Daddy indicated from my other side while running gentle fingers over my hair. Without waiting for me to formulate a response, he lifted me into his arms. He carried me down the hall into my bedroom with Papa trailing close behind.

"When I get big, I wanta look as pwetty as Aunt Alex at _my_ wedding," I yawned with half closed eyes as my parents tucked me in.

"As pretty as Aunt Alex? No, sweetheart, you'll look even _more _beautiful," Daddy crooned before kissing me on the forehead. Smiling gently, I nodded off into dreamland before I could even hear my dads say "good night" to me. I dreamt that I was in a princess-like gown, spinning around a room identical to the one Aunt Alex got married in. I was wearing a veil and everything, and my family was there to see me get married…

I hope your dreams don't have meanings when you're 3 years old, because in that particular one, my groom was nothing but thin air.


	3. Chapter 3

You know how I called me and Claire the babies of the family? Well, notice that I had said we _were. _See, a couple years after their wedding, Aunt Alex and Uncle Leon provided us with our youngest baby cousin! Even though I was only 5 when it happened, _that _was a chapter in my life that I won't soon forget.

With all of our relatives, and Aunt Alex being the youngest member of the second generation, she had _lots _of help while she was expecting. Daddy was always so close to her, so he often took me and Papa down to help out whenever Uncle Leon had to work. One day, Daddy brought me home from school with the words, "After you finish your snack, we're going to visit Aunt Alex!" We rarely visited family on anything but special occasions, so I said "hi" to papa, scarfed down my cookies, and was ready to leave again within mere minutes.

"Good to see you, Allie! How are you?" Daddy exclaimed once we walked in the door, enclosing his sister in a tight hug. I knew straight off that something was different about my aunt, besides the fact that there was this utterly joyful vibe emanating from her. Plus she was wearing a really odd looking shirt, the fabric loose around the stomach area…

My attention span allowed me to zone back in when Papa and Uncle Leon had joined us in the room. "So, why'd you call us here?" Papa inquired in an upbeat tone, absently ruffling my hair. Exchanging quick smiles, Aunt Alex leaned into Uncle Leon as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"It took just about forever, but… I'm finally pregnant!" my youngest aunt breathed. I didn't exactly know what that meant, of course, but the word clicked with the image of babies and a fat lady in my head. I think it's because one of my friends had said something about having a pregnant mother, and her baby sister was born a few months ago…

Whatever the phrase's meaning, it must've been extraordinary. Daddy and Papa were dealing out kisses to Aunt Alex's cheeks and head, plus hugs to the very proud-looking couple (well, Papa was too humble to give Uncle Leon anything more than a handshake). "Aunt Alex is going to have a baby, Daisy! A little cousin for you," Papa quickly explained to me. You can only imagine how much excitement flooded my 5 year old mind.

So, I found myself at my youngest aunt's house at least once every week. Daddy always took me, and Papa came along whenever he had off from work. Ooh, I never told you his job, did I? He's a chef! He used to just wash dishes, but he cooked dinner for his boss one night and got promoted a few days later! Isn't that cool?

Anyway, it had been one of the first times since Aunt Alex announced she was having a baby that Papa and Uncle Leon had off from work on the same day (my uncle plays violin in some type of music industry). Uncle Leon was showing Papa some recipe from his culture while I watched television with Daddy and Aunt Alex. That was how these visits always went: I colored or watched TV while Aunt Alex and Daddy did chores around the house, made a meal, or sat with me. Sometimes we went shopping, too.

I'd finished scribbling in my coloring book and some sappy movie was on TV, so I decided to go spend time with Papa and Uncle Leon in the kitchen. I intended to, really I did… But I ended up leaning up against the side of the doorway, eavesdropping out of sight.

"Wow, that really _is _thin, huh? Almost like paper… Now, could you use pancake batter for this?" Papa was saying. Uncle Leon bit his lip thoughtfully, tossing something that looked sort of like a pancake I guess, if you squashed it to the point that it was literally less than a centimeter thick, onto a plate.

"Oui, you could… Zey wouldn't really be crêpes, zough. Zey're much easier to eat when zey're made wiz ze legitimate batter," Uncle Leon answered. Papa nodded.

"Want me to start assembling one?" Papa questioned, pulling a tub of cool whip toward him.

"S'il vous plaît, go right a'ead." With a smile, Papa gingerly peeled the topmost tortilla-like-thing off of a plate by Uncle Leon's hand, plopped it on his own plate, and spooned some of the nearby white cream onto the middle. It was silent between the two men for a few seconds. Uncle Leon glanced up at Papa, his lips semi parted and his eyebrows raised a bit as if he had something to say. Papa caught his eye, still smiling, and tilted his head.

"What?"

Blushing very slightly, Uncle Leon laughed awkwardly. "Oh, nozzing, nozzing… It's just…" He set down his pan and turned to face Papa all the way. "It's only natural for a man wiz 'is firs child due to constantly wonder 'ow to do fazzerly stuff correctly, right? Well, whenever I zink about parenting role models… My number un example is you and Kiseki."

Papa froze right in the middle of returning the spoon to the cool whip container, and he ended up dropping it in instead of setting it against the side. "Yeah? I'm not trying to sound insecure or anything, but… Why us?"

Uncle Leon turned the stove down and leaned against the countertop. "Well, I mean… You could 'ave gone wizzout any children. It would 'ave been so much easier on ze bozz of you… It's not like zere weren't plenty of kids in your family to fuss over. But you went for it and adopted Daisy, despite her being an age you knew would be 'ard to 'andle, because you loved 'er from first sight… Even wiz all ze 'ate against your relationship, you're staying strong togezzer and letting Daisy know zat being different isn't a bad zing. In ze event zat you become overwhelmed from people zinking your relationship is wrong, you would want to stay a couple because…?"

"Daisy needs us and we love her," Papa immediately answered in a soft tone. My eyes widened a bit: even at my very young age, I figured that parents would want to stay a couple mainly because they loved _each other. _Uncle Leon nodded, apparently pleased with his response.

"See? _Zat _is an example of excellent parenting. …You should probably add ze strawberries and chocolate spread before zat gets too cold." Papa laughed and returned to his creation. I returned to Daddy and Aunt Alex with a gentle smile on my face.

There was one other eavesdropping incident at Aunt Alex's that left me feeling, I dunno, fluttery inside. It was just 3 of us, since Papa was working late and Uncle Leon was on a four day long business trip. _That _made me crazy: I simply couldn't understand how a man could leave for a few days when his wife was going to have a baby soon! Daddy assured me, though, that my cousin wouldn't be born for 2 more months. Still, I was skeptic for a while afterwards.

When we first settled down on the couch, my immediate instinct was to freak out when Aunt Alex snuggled up against Daddy and he affectionately rubbed her arm. I was just never the same since I saw some ladies hitting on my dad at the Muggle mall… Of course, I didn't know it was flirting, but it still set off red flags in my little head. Anyway, I quickly acknowledged that these two were siblings, and settled myself down with my head in Daddy's lap.

I tried to fall asleep, I really did, but I apparently just wasn't tired. The two adults, however, didn't take notice of this… "She really is beautiful," Aunt Alex murmured. For a moment, I wondered who she was referring to- someone on TV maybe?- until I felt fingers gingerly brush strands of hair away from my face. They must've been Daddy's, since I've always known his skin to feel so cool.

"I know… A little pudgy, but hey, that just makes her even more adorable. Cyrus and I made a good decision, choosing her," Daddy whispered. "She's such a sweetheart," he added. They were talking about _me_…? It took all my willpower to keep my eyes closed.

"You know, I've never seen her give you trouble. She's fussed when she was tired or hungry or bored, yes, but don't all kids do that?" Aunt Alex sighed happily under her breath. From the movement I detected, I could tell she had her hand resting atop her stomach. "I hope my baby will be as well behaved…"

Daddy's fingers were now repeatedly caressing my forehead. I think he shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be a great little person. And even if they're difficult, I'm positive you and Leon can handle it… Although there _is _one thing you have to worry about."

"Hm? What's that?"

"If the child picks up on that god awful French accent of their father's!" Daddy joked. Aunt Alex chuckled and kissed me so lightly on the nose that I wasn't even positive I'd felt it.

"You'll trade me Daisy if my child turns against me, right?" Aunt Alex teased. I'm not sure what Daddy responded, because that's when I finally nodded off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Instead of skipping around to another story, I might as well wrap up this one. You can only imagine how _excited _I was. I mean, it must be an instinct for all (if not most) little kids to adore even littler kids, and I had never been able to see a baby up close… This baby would be _my _cousin, too! I could see her almost whenever I wanted! When Daddy told me she would be born any day now, I was practically bouncing off the walls.

One Saturday evening provided quite possibly the most exciting thing I'd ever experienced in my 5 years. I find it so funny how it started out. Daddy was attempting to help Papa make dinner, and failing tremendously. "Daisy, love, go wash up," Papa laughed as Daddy accidentally knocked over a measuring cup. He cried out in exasperation, but a slight smile twitched onto his face as he took full note of Papa gripping a stitch in his side and cracking up. With a giggle, I trotted off to the bathroom to wash my hands.

I jumped in order to flick on the light switch and hopped up onto my stepstool in front of the sink. Humming some happy tune we'd learned in school the previous day, I pumped soap onto my palm, twisted the nozzle labeled _Hot, _and began scrubbing away. Am I the only kid who felt like a superhero fighting against evil armies of germs every time she washed her hands? Well anyway, I paused halfway through when I heard what sounded like a pan clattering to the floor in the kitchen, followed by a frustrated gasp from Daddy. I hurriedly rinsed all the suds off of my chubby hands, switched the sink off, wiped my hands on a towel, and bolted back to my parents.

What I saw made me stumble, giggle, gape, and think: "EW!" all at the same time. A pan certainly had fallen to the ground, spilling partially boiled water and milk all over the tile floor. Biting his lip very hard, Daddy was backed against the wall opposite to the stove and grasping his wrist with his other hand.

"What did you do to yourself?" Papa chuckled, striding toward Daddy.

"I burned my bloody finger!" my darker haired father hissed. Papa gingerly pried Daddy's fingers off of his wrist and brought the burned finger to his own lips. He slowly made like he was going to put the digit in his mouth, but instead sprung slightly forward and gently pinned Daddy against the wall. I took an alarmed step forward at this, though I soon saw he meant no harm. In fact, he was nuzzling his bristly chin against Daddy's neck and delivering the occasional soft kiss to his chin.

"We aren't making any progress on dinner!" Daddy huffed, yet I could detect laughter in his tone.

"I'll just make a microwave meal, no biggee," Papa purred, giving Daddy a quick peck on the lips. Squirming free of Papa's loose grasp, Daddy hugged his husband and leaned in to give him a longer kiss. Their lips were about a centimeter apart when the phone rang. Both of them jumped, looking around airily as if they'd never heard the Muggle device's sound in their lives. The sight of me standing there made them each blush tenfold and Daddy shuffled over to answer the telephone immediately.

"You two are so _silly!_" I insisted, skipping over to hug Papa around the legs. He smiled almost awkwardly and patted the back of my hair.

I casually turned my attention to Daddy. His green eyes were bulging, and a smile was melting onto his face. "Are you serious? What, _now? _Oh, Merlin… Yes, yes, of course! We're just going to have dinner and we'll be there. …Yeah, of course. Okay, see you!" He hung up the phone beamishly. "That was my dad," Daddy indicated before Papa could ask. "Alex is four hours into l-" He glanced at me and paused, "Alex is having her baby."

To me, he was talking stuff of miracles. I immediately started bouncing up and down on my heels. "Can we go, Daddy? Can we go right now?" I gasped. Daddy chuckled slightly, although I could tell he was nearly as excited as I was.

"We have to eat dinner first, munchkin."

I shook my head rapidly, resulting in temporary blindness from my long locks of blonde hair. "I'm not hungry!" My stomach growled at that very moment, giving me away on the spot. Both of my parents laughed and Daddy gave a sweep with his wand in order to clean up the mess he'd made of what was going to be dinner; Papa slid over to the freezer to remove 3 dinner trays.

"I'll cook these up, which should only take around 10 minutes. We'll eat and _then _we can go," he explained, already opening the microwave and pressing buttons on its front.

Waiting for all three meals to heat up was agonizing. I desperately wanted to eat mine while the other two cooked, but I knew that would be rude so I sucked it up. We sat ourselves around our little table and dug into our food without a word. Being an eager-to-leave 5 year old, it was only natural that I shoveled down my chicken nuggets and macaroni 'n cheese so quickly that I started to choke. Funny, how when you get something lodged in your throat and you cough, you always get that jolt with the thought: _Dear God I'm going to die_, yet after a gulp of water and someone smacking your back, you're totally fine.

Once my "scrape with death" was over with, I hesitantly swallowed my last piece of chicken, hopped down from my chair, and set my trash on the countertop. Daddy and Papa followed soon after, ruffling my hair as they passed and dropping their empty plastic trays into the garbage can. "Alright gang, let's go," Daddy declared, swiping the car keys off the mini table in the kitchen. I was in the living room and out the door before either of my parents could blink.

The car ride was even worse than waiting for dinner. It was making me uncharacteristically whiny; I even openly asked why Daddy couldn't just Disapparate us there. Apparently, he doubted his ability to perform side-along Apparation with 2 people, and something else… My stubbornness made me stop listening halfway through his answer.

I opened my eyes from what I thought was a blink, yet when I peered at the digital clock beneath the dashboard, it read 2 hours later than when I had let my eyelids droop. Wow, I must've been _really _bored, if I fell asleep despite not being the slightest bit tired… Gently digging my knuckles into my eyes, I noticed that the car had stopped moving. Daddy turned toward me from the passenger seat, his mouth partially open in preparation to speak, but smiled at me before talking. "Perfect timing to wake up, love, I was just about to tell you we're here."

"How'd ya know ah was sleepin'?" I yawned.

"Because you stopped _complaining,_" Papa teased. I glared at him for a second, but it soon softened into a pout and then a slight grin. Papa winked at me briefly before sliding out of his door, stretching, opening _my _door, and unbuckling me. I didn't hesitate to scramble out into the parking lot. My heartbeat gradually increased as the sleepy haze faded from my head and I realized exactly what I was doing. In no time at all, I'd be meeting my little baby cousin! If I wasn't aware of the dire necessity of holding my parents' hands, I would have bolted inside the colossal hospital building as quickly as my legs would carry me.

I'd never been inside a hospital before… With the waiting room crowded with uncomfortable-looking people, constant paging over an intercom, and the woman scowling behind the front desk at hand, my excitement dimmed considerably. "We're looking for Alexandra Dimanche," Daddy indicated, soothingly tracing circles on the back of my hand with his pinky.

"Are you family?" the receptionist asked in a bored tone without looking up at us- she just continued typing at her computer.

"Yes, I'm her brother," answered Daddy. The receptionist paused her typing for a moment to glance at Papa and me, then sighed silently and returned her attention to the computer.

"Room 301," she told us. My dads nodded, thanked her, and proceeded toward the elevator. Fortunately for me, we were the only ones riding it (I'm not a fan of tightly packed spaces). I stared in awe as Papa pressed a button on the elevator's wall, causing it to light up, and stumbled with a squeak as the pulley lurched upward. Experiencing 2 other elevator rides prior in my life never allowed me to get over that sudden movement.

What felt like a century later, the elevator doors slid open and I hopped out into the hall as if my life depended on it. Whoa, this was a _long _corridor… All those white doors looked nearly identical; surely it would take forever to locate the room Aunt Alex was in… Apparently I was wrong, since after but a few steps Daddy was knocking on one of the doors. My breath caught as I realized that the waiting ended here…

There were only four people in the room: Grandpa, wearing his white doctor lab coat and grinning slightly while he scribbled on a clipboard; Grandma, seated on a bedside plastic chair as she murmured happily; Uncle Leon, kneeling on the single hospital bed, obviously having missed out on sleep yet you wouldn't be able to tell from his pleasant expression; Aunt Alex, laying in the bed looking exhausted and disheveled, though smiling with utmost affection down at a neatly wrapped bundle in her arms….

Make that _five _people in the room.

It was then that Grandma turned her gaze to us. "Cyrus, Kiseki, come meet your new niece," she breathed. Despite not being the one who was addressed, I sprinted over to join her at the bedside. Aunt Alex lifted her bundle ever so slightly and used her pointer finger to pull down the top of the fluffy lavender blanket a bit.

My fingertips flew to my mouth and I let out an airy gasp. "She's so_ cute!" _

"Thank you," Aunt Alex and Uncle Leon whispered in unison, their eyes glued to their new daughter. Their pride was immeasurable, I'll bet… The baby really was gorgeous. Her tiny, dainty face was so delicate that she looked nearly fake, like an ornate doll. (I guess that was to be expected, with her good-looking parents.) Minuscule wisps of hair the same golden-brown as Uncle Leon's sprouted over her head, and her lips were just barely open in an almost unnoticeable "o" shape. I could already tell I'd love my cousin a lot.

"What's her name?" Daddy asked, tickling the chin of his younger sister's only daughter.

Aunt Alex glanced lovingly at Uncle Leon before responding, "Genevieve."

"Genevieve Dimanche, hm? Very French, and very beautiful," Papa assured them, his icy blue eyes glued to this new niece of his. I, however, had a different opinion on the name.

"_Huh? _It does sound weally pwetty, but it's so hard to _say! _I'm gonna call her… Eve," I declared.

"That's just fine, love," Aunt Alex chuckled.

The adults in the room chatted about stuff I either didn't understand or didn't care about for the next 10 or so minutes. All the while, I stared up at Genevieve with utter interest. Every tiny movement she made- be it a twitch, nearly silent sound, or a bob to her head- sent a chill of excitement down my spine. This was the _real deal! _I was finally an older cousin (being just a few days older than Claire didn't count in my mind)! In a family as closely knit as mine, that was almost as great as being a big sister.

It felt like we had just gotten there when Grandpa glanced at the wall clock and, being Aunt Alex's doctor, advised us that we needed to leave. I gave as well as accepted good-bye hugs and kisses, waved my fingers at Genevieve, and followed my parents and grandmother out into the hall.

Since our visit had been so brief and the journey back home would take a couple hours, Daddy and Papa decided to spend the night in a motel (we didn't really mind having to sleep in our clothes, as long as we had somewhere to sleep at all!). Our room was tiny, containing nothing besides two conveniently-sized beds. I flung myself onto the smaller of the two without hesitation.

"Daddy, Papa, what was it like when I was born?" I'd questioned sleepily once I was all tucked in. The smiles faltered on my parents' faces and they exchanged uneasy glances. "Aunt Alex and Uncle Leon looked really tired. Were _you _tired?" I urged.

"We'll… We'll tell you when you get older," Papa muttered hesitantly. I pouted, but just for a moment.

"Oh _fine… _Good night, I love you two _sooooo _much," I yawned. I received two kisses atop my head in response.

Asking two _men _what it was like to have a baby… Gosh, you just have to love the innocence of 5 year olds.


	5. Chapter 5

So once again, I resorted to closing my eyes and randomly picking from my list of topics to recite. In this case, my finger landed on something that will require me to jump 6 whole years ahead since my last story.

I was, of course, still utterly bummed out that I didn't receive a letter to Hogwarts when my cherished best friend Claire did. Even so, I managed to gradually accept it at least a little and was eager to accompany my cousin on her shopping trip at Diagon Alley. If she was excited, I might as well mirror her positive feelings! Besides, I had other reasons to want to visit that place….

Since Aunt Kathy and Uncle James had to work, and half my family practically forced my parents to take a day to themselves, our Diagon Alley chaperone was Claire's paternal grandfather, Harry Potter. I couldn't help but giggle as I recalled Claire mentioning her grandpa on our first day of kindergarten. Those Muggles had no idea in the slightest who she was talking about… Yet anywhere in the wizarding world we went, Mr. Harry received at least a few eyes lingering on his scar or other awed reactions from passersby even though any fame-worthy feats he'd achieved occurred many years ago.

"Grandpa, can we go visiting first?" Claire questioned once we entered the alley, practically bouncing with giddiness. Mr. Harry shrugged slightly.

"I don't see why not. You can get robes and books then, anyway," he reasoned. "Want me to come with you?"

Claire stared at him as if he was a bumbling idiot. "Uh, _no _thanks. You can stay right here and chill while we shop… 'Kay?"

Mr. Harry chuckled, ruffling Claire's already messy black hair. "Okay, kiddo. Call me if you need anything, alright?" I bet a lot of people would get a kick out of the fact that Harry Potter, legendary wizard, carried a Muggle device around in his pocket…

With a confirming salute, Claire grabbed my wrist and started trotting down the street, a beamish grin plastered on her face. "Hey, you've been all quiet… Everything okay?" she asked me after about a minute of silence, slowing down to just a walk and allowing her smile to dim a level or two.

"Hm? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine! I was just thinking about how… _wow _all of this is," I replied, attempting to widen my own smile. Claire raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Look, if this whole thing is makin' you uncomfortable, we can leave right now. I still have a couple weeks until I leave for Hogwarts…" It almost looked as if Claire regretted verbalizing that last sentence.

"I'm _fine, _Claire! Really! I'm _happy _for you, honest. And this'll be fun," I insisted. I wasn't lying at all, either. To help prove my point, I playfully flicked Claire's nose. Her incredulousness seemed to die down, and we continued on our way.

I've heard that witches and wizards in previous generations shopped at a place called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Well, not anymore: the ownership has recently been passed on, and instead of Madam Malkin's, it's called Luci's. Lucia and Lucina Malfoy- the young women that now run the shop- bought it two years ago after being Hogwarts graduates for just a year. Now, are the names ringing a bell in your head? Think back on the guests at Aunt Alex's wedding… Ding ding ding! Lucia and Lucina (we prefer just to call her Cina) are my cousins! _That's _my other reason for visiting Diagon Alley: I've got a handful of relatives working there.

I absolutely love what the twins have done with the shop. When you walk in, your jaw will usually drop at least a bit. The store is lighted an expert brightness of not too blinding, yet anything but dim. On the perfectly square bottom floor, you can find rooms to try on any new selections, a couple fitting stations where Cina or Lucia measure students for new robes, a display of those robes for both genders and every season's style, a selection of shoes appropriate for school wear, plus scarves, ties, and undershirts of the 4 Hogwarts colors.

If you stood in the center of the room and looked up, you'd see the pearl-colored ceiling towering many feet above you. Turn your gaze a little downward or to the sides, however, and you'll realize that there is actually a second and third floor. It sort of resembles a Muggle shopping mall setup. A spiral staircase in the back corner of the shop leads to those upper floors. A wide variety of dress robes is available on the second floor, while clothing more for casual wear is located on floor three.

"Well would you look what the owl dropped in," a familiar voice called from above. Claire and I simultaneously looked up to see Lucia waving at us from the second floor. Grinning, she swung herself over the railing and jumped down, speedily using a spell to soften her fall. She held out her arms, and I didn't hesitate to embrace her in a hug; Claire, on the other hand, more like put one arm around our cousin and patted her back. Lucia stepped back after a few seconds and admired us with both hands on her hips. "Wow, it's been _months _since I last saw you girls… What brings you here?"

"They're 11 now, Lucia. Why do you _think _they're here?" mused a voice quite similar to Lucia's, if not a few levels lower. There truly was no mistaking that Lucia and Cina were twins: they had the same blue eyes, same exact shade of yellow-blonde hair, same facial structure, same height, and they even applied their makeup similarly… But otherwise, they did everything in their power to display differences. Cina had her hair in a longer sort of pixie cut, while Lucia's reached past her shoulders when not pulled into its usual high ponytail. The girls made a habit of wearing the same blouse and mini-vest, except Cina's was ironed and worn neatly with a popped collar, yet Lucia's was disheveled, had a tucked in collar, and the top 2 buttons on her vest were undone. Not to mention Cina wore a pencil skirt and Lucia had on men's style dress pants. Even their personalities were rather different. I mean, Cina was a Slytherin like their dad while Lucia was a Gryffindor like their mum!

Now that you have a better feel for who the Malfoy twins are…

"Oh, blimey, that's right! Cina, how about you measure Claire and I get Daisy?" Lucia offered. I could tell she never really forgave Claire for biting her so hard that she bled some 19 years ago.

I attempted to keep my smile as bright as it was when I walked in, but felt I had quite failed. My eyes for certain had darkened of their pleasant flicker, I was sure of _that. _"Sorry, but, just Claire needs to be fitted… I never got a letter," I murmured. Lucia looked devastated while Cina just appeared sympathetic. The latter gently set her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, sweetie…" I shook my head, absently wrapping a strand of my long ringlets around my index finger with a slight smile quickly returning.

"Oh, no, don't be! Papa didn't go to Hogwarts, so it doesn't really bother me that I won't."

My words somehow seemed to touch Lucia to the core. "Aw, honey… Cina, go size up Claire real quick…" she said softly. Cina nodded, removing a roll of measuring tape from her breast pocket and motioning for Claire to follow her. I think I saw something like concern flash across my black haired cousin's eyes as she retreated.

"So you really aren't upset?" Lucia confirmed, leaning against the nearest wall. Business was slow for her today, it seemed. I nodded and copied her action.

"I'm a little sad about it, yeah, but I sort of saw it coming, you know? Somewhere in the back of my mind… And I'll miss Claire _so _much, but we can always write each other and visit on breaks…" Oh, gosh, were my eyes watering? I hoped not: even if there were only a couple customers upstairs, I was still in public.

Lucia placed one hand over her heart, using the other to gingerly stroke the top of my head. "You're such a strong little thing, you know that?" I shrugged partially, although her words seemed to seep into my skin and send warmth coursing through my veins.

We talked a little more about nothing in particular- mostly just catching up- for a few more minutes. Toward the end of our conversation, when Lucia was concluding a story of a little boy that had gotten lost in a clothing rack, a thought entered my mind and for some reason slipped right off of my tongue. "You know Lucia, you'd make a great mum." I intended it to stay in my head, but…

My cousin's reaction wasn't positive nor negative. She simply stared at me with a light blush sweeping across her cheeks. Before she could comment, though, Claire trotted over to us with a new set of robes in the shopping basket Mr. Harry had given her. It seemed too small to fit her needs, but apparently a spell was set on it so that its bottom was indefinite.

"Well, good luck, Claire. Hope you get put in Slytherin… Isn't that what your Uncle Albus was?" Cina remarked, patting Claire once on the shoulder.

"Come on Cina, she obviously wants to be a Gryffindor like her daddy," Lucia countered.

"Just to spite you both, I'll see to it that I get put into Hufflepuff," Claire declared with a smirk. We all shared a laugh, said our good-byes, promised to remain in touch, and the twins disappeared into their shop.

"What house _do _you want to be in?" I questioned as we continued on our way.

Claire cocked her head, biting her lip slightly. "I dunno, really. I guess I _would _prefer Gryffindor or Slytherin… Thank God I didn't get Mum's brains, then I'd have a chance of being in Ravenclaw with _Marie._" She shuddered visibly.

"Oh come on, your sister isn't _that _bad…"

"If 'that bad' is the equivalent of a three headed lion that spits poison, bleeds ice, and has laser vision, _then _Marie isn't that bad." Claire snickered under her breath. "Technically, she's so bad simply because she's absolutely _good._" I chuckled at my cousin's logic and pushed open the door of Flourish and Blotts.

Apparently, this place hadn't changed at all over the course of years. Well, I assume it hasn't… Perhaps they purposely designed the place to have a hasn't-been-remodeled-in-decades look. Anyway, when we walked in, Claire held a finger up to her lips, signaling for me to be quiet. A handsome, black haired man with an age of 20 stood by a bookshelf at the far end of the store, using his wand to organize a stack of books and situate each one on a shelf. Claire approached him by taking incredibly leisurely steps on tiptoe. Once she was about a foot away from him (he still hadn't acknowledged her presence), she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. He gasped, stumbled, and glared at her… Then smirked with utmost affection.

"I can press assault charges against you, you know," he teased, gently digging his knuckles against Claire's head before stepping out of her grasp.

"Like you'd have the balls to, Jas." The man laughed and set the final book onto the shelf.

Meet my cousin Jasper. When alone in public, his usual personality is of the silent, reclusive type. However, he's sweet, friendly, as well as helpful to his customers at Flourish and Blotts, plus whenever he's with his friends or family, he's a funny, talkative schmoozer much like his dad (you might want to keep checking back on the guest list for Aunt Alex's wedding when it comes to this stuff… Or, better yet, look at my family tree! It'll help). The whispered rumor around my family was that he was dating Lucia. I personally would find that adorable. So what if Lucia was a year older and Jasper's cousin? Love is love.

The moment that Claire caught wind of this gossip about Jasper, she found it rather hilarious. Not tragic, disgusting, cute, or even weird… She simply found it funny. She wasn't bitter about it, though: she had her own way of making a joke out of the whole thing. Basically, she acted as if she felt certain that if Jasper had a thing for one female cousin, he would for another. What happened next is a perfect example.

Putting on this immensely fake seductive face (well, as seductive as an 11 year old tomboy can manage), Claire stretched up an arm to poke Jasper's nose. "Look, Jas, darling, I need some books…" She slid her supply list out of her back pocket and wiggled it teasingly in front of his face. "Mind hooking me up?" she whispered. Rolling his eyes with a slight grin, Jasper snatched the parchment out of her fingers and looked over the _Required Textbooks _section casually.

"Alright, give me one minute and I'll have them all ready for you," he indicated. His gray eyes trailed over to me expectantly. When I remained silent, giving him nothing but a little wave with my fingers, he took the hint; I hear he inherited his ability to read the atmosphere from his formerly-creepyrific mother. Flashing me a remarkably brief look of sympathy, he strode off, leaving Claire to break into a fit of crazed snickers at her little "flirting" session.

Within certainly less than 60 seconds, Jasper was back, an assortment of large books piled in his arms. I immediately jumped up to take down the top two, plopping them heavily in Claire's basket. I smiled slightly when Jasper thanked me and ruffled my hair. We didn't linger very long there; after hugging Jasper and saying we'd see him later, we moved onto our next destination.

"So, should we wrap up the rest of your shopping and save the best place for last?" I asked as we proceeded down the street. We both laughed after I said that; to us, the answer to that question was obvious. We'd get all the visiting out of the way before we finished the legitimate shopping.

Even with its neighbors' renovations from over the years, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes will and has always stuck out on Number 93 Diagon Alley. Its colossal size and outside color scheme are one thing; the countless array of colorful products that spun, made sound, and blinked rapidly on display in the window are another. Why are we stopping by there, you ask? Well, that would be because of my cousin Sai. As of his recent graduation from Hogwarts, he's been an employee at the store, both selling and creating products. He's already invented the never-ending can of juice, an embarrassingly false mood necklace, pellets that harmlessly change the breed of a pet fish, and storybooks that temporarily boost your IQ! No wonder he was a Ravenclaw.

Time for a little history-lesson-type-thing! This store was founded by the infamous Weasley twins, Fred and George, a _long _time ago. However, Mr. George is getting up in the years and poor Mr. Fred died when he was just 19, so the presidency was passed onto Mr. George's son, Fred II. That Fred went on to have a career in Quidditch, so he handed the store over to his cousin Justin: the first Fred's only son, who was born a few months after his death. 5 years ago on his fortieth birthday, he passed the ownership onto his triplet sons: Colten, Brandon, and Ivan. They're 23 right now. I personally believe there's something going on between Ivan and Sai, but that's just me.

In some long, complicated way, I'm sort of related to Justin. See, his mum is the twin sister of my great-uncle's wife. So we're not exactly related, I guess, but we are at least on the same family tree. The Weasleys actually pop up twice on there… I mean, Aunt Kathy married Uncle James, whose mum is the sister of the first Fred Weasley… So does that mean Aunt Kathy married a distant cousin? Or something? Eh, I dunno.

When we walked into the store, we immediately spotted Sai organizing a shelf to the far right. At first it looked like he was having a conversation with himself, but a metallic clip on his ear (I believe it's called Bluetooth) proved him not to be. He's always had a thing for Muggle devices… One time, he got grounded for dissecting an iPod touch!

Claire and I started making our way over to him, but a group of 4 giggly teenage girls beat us to it. Sai clicked off his Bluetooth, obviously not fazed by the girls' presence, and only looked up when three of them pushed one forward. "Can I help you?" he questioned.

The girl coughed into her fist to calm down her mirth, while her companions were still cracking up silently. She used one hand to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, and the other to point at some product that resembled a crystal ball. "How much for this?" Her tone made it obvious that she was flirting.

Sai stared at her with an "Are you kidding me?" expression. "The price is _right there,_" he muttered. The girl didn't so much as blush in embarrassment. Instead, she thanked him over-sincerely and retreated to her friends. All four of them squealed as they walked away. Sai shook his head and irritably pushed his glasses further up on his nose. Girls were always hitting on him, and he never enjoyed it.

"What was that thing she was asking about? I don't think I've seen it before." Sai's eyes widened slightly behind his spectacles at the sound of my voice.

"Daisy, Claire, hey! Haven't seen you in a while…" Smiling, he picked up the crystal ball-like thing. "_This _is my newest creation for girls. You simply run your hand over it, and it shows you the person you're 'destined to be with.' See, with a special combination of magic and science, it targets the section of your brain where certain strong emotions about people are stored. It'll either match you with some totally disgusting freaky guy, or your least favorite professor, or your first crush, or that guy that every girl would die for… People like that," he explained with utmost pride. Claire beamed at him in awe while I narrowed my eyes skeptically.

"And girls actually _believe _that thing?" Claire confirmed. Sai smirked.

"Every time. I mean, they'll believe horoscopes and stuff, right?"

Claire laughed and uttered something about how gullible most girls are. I, on the other hand, wasn't as amused. "Isn't that kind of, I don't know, mean? To get girls' hopes up or down like that?"

"It's all in good fun," Sai assured me, patting my shoulder.

"Eh, I guess…" But I still wasn't convinced.

"So, what's it like being _manager, _Sai?" Claire asked after her laughing fit ended. Oh, that's right: after working there for a mere couple months, Sai had already been promoted to manager.

"I don't know, nothing's really changed except my pay increased and I get a special nametag. I managed stuff before I was officially the manag_er_," Sai responded with a shrug. Claire and I simultaneously opened our mouths to speak, but were interrupted by a chorus of 3 men's voices calling: "Hey Sai!" from above.

We looked up to see the Weasley triplets leaning over the indoor balcony in the center of the shop's second floor with slight grins on their freckled faces. You'd never be able to tell them apart, unless you hang out with them for a while. Colten's a cool guy, Brandon's playfully bitter, and Ivan's more of a sweetheart. Plus, you could always look at their eyes: Colten's are green, Brandon's are teal, Ivan's are brown.

"We need you to-" began Colten.

"-make a quick phone call-" continued Brandon.

"-as soon as you can," finished Ivan. Sai started to protest, but his gaze lingered on Ivan's face for a second and he shut his mouth. Understand my suspicions now?

"I have to go do this… Think you girls could stop by again later?" he suggested, turning to face us. We nodded in unison. Smiling slightly, Sai patted our heads, kissed our cheeks, and trotted off to join the triplets. They all clapped him on the back as if climbing the stairs to get to them was some huge feat.

Ah, there's just never a dull moment in my family.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Time to switch from Daisy's POV to mine, the author! Dang, that was a LONG chapter... So anyway, 2 things:

When Daisy says you should check out her family tree sometime, you seriously should. There are a _LOT _of people in her family, so referencing the family tree could come in handy. I actually made that family tree, so here's a link to it: gallery/?offset=24#/d51dwtr

I feel the need to pay credit where it's due. Justin Weasley, his mom Caitlyn, and his three sons (Colten, Brandon, and Ivan) are all OCs of KiwiFruit07. She's just kind enough to let me use them in my stuff :3 Technically, I didn't invent Lucia and Lucina, my friend s6attered.'ce did. I, however, developed them; she just came up with their basic appearance and personalities.

Bye-bye for now~!


	6. Chapter 6

Alright, here's a story that I'm actually choosing to recite. At the time, I was 9. I didn't wake up until about noon, because I'd been so excited for the upcoming day that I didn't get to sleep until at least 1 in the morning. I stretched, literally rolled out of bed, and hopped the 2 feet distance between my bedroom door and my parents'. I knocked first, and eagerly swung the door open when I received a mumbled "Come in" in response. I saw that Papa still had his face buried in his pillow, while Daddy was sitting up groggily. His eyes lazily drifted over to the clock, and immediately widened notably.

"11:52? Blimey…. Daisy, love, why didn't you wake us?" he gasped. Really, though, he didn't sound too concerned about having slept in. Now Papa was pushing himself upright, wearing a tired look of mild curiosity.

"Sorry, I just woke up too!" I yawned. The fact that Daddy's pajama top was completely unbuttoned and Papa was shirtless didn't faze me, except that it caused a few giggles to escape my lips. "I'm going to Grandma and Grandpa's today, right?" I confirmed.

Papa smiled at me softly, scratching the back of his head. "You sure are. Do you have a bag together?"

I nodded perhaps _too _enthusiastically. "I put all my stuff in a backpack last night! So since it's so late… Should we just get dressed, have breakfast- or brunch, technically- and then leave?" I asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Daddy agreed, swinging himself over the bedside. And so, after eating apple-cinnamon oatmeal and changing out of pajamas, Daddy grabbed my and Papa's hands then Disapparated us off to my grandparents' house. For as long as I can remember, Daddy's parents have lived in England just like the rest of the family. Apparently, when all their kids were still, well, _kids, _they lived in Japan for a few years! But that's irrelevant.

_Ding-dong. _After stepping away from the doorbell, I rocked back and forth on my heels in absolute excitement. Surprise arrangements to spend the day with my grandparents were always a delight, but for some reason I tended to be more ecstatic about the planned ones. On the day of my parents' wedding anniversary, they would usually sleep in and then proceed to drop me off at Grandma and Grandpa's around noon. It's totally normal for Daddy and Papa to wake up half naked… I later learned that this was because on the eve of their anniversary, they do… _certain things _to prepare for the significant upcoming day.

A few seconds passed before I heard the words "I'll get it" accompanying slight shuffling sounds. In no time at all, the door swung open, and there stood my grandmother. I personally thought she was quite pretty, for a woman that was almost 60 years old. A few wrinkles can be found on her face, yet she's still got a youthful glow or vibe about her. With a combination of magic and dye, she's expertly hidden the streaks of gray in her light brown hair. Not to mention she's got the same exact beautiful green eyes as Daddy and Aunt Kathy.

"Well would you look at that, right on time. Come in, please!" Grandma exclaimed with a loving smile sinking into her features. "And happy anniversary, you two." She kissed Daddy on the cheek and Papa on the head as she added these words. They thanked her sort of sheepishly and followed her inside.

"Hi Grandma!" I squealed, reaching out my arms for a hug. Grandma didn't hesitate to bend down slightly and give me a squeeze.

"_Goodness, _every time I see you, you're taller and even more beautiful," my grandmother crooned. I giggled and replied with a "thank you."

Suddenly, I felt my overstuffed backpack be practically peeled off of my back. "Let me put this in the room you'll be sleeping in, love," offered the voice of my grandfather. He's kind of intimidating, with his perfectly kept but graying dark brown hair, short-shaved facial hair, tall height, and slightly muscular build… But he's got such pretty blue eyes and is almost always smiling, so it's hard to be afraid of him.

I nodded my head sharply, a beamish smile on my face. "Yes, please, that'd be nice!" Grandpa ruffled my hair before disappearing down the hall, then returning rather shortly.

"15 years, huh? That's remarkable, you two," he commented fondly, giving both of my parents affectionate pats on the shoulder.

"Says the man who's been happily married to his wife for over 40 years now," Daddy muttered with a small smile irremovable from his lips.

The adults continued having some mushy conversation I zoned out of for about 10 minutes. During that time, I occupied myself by scratching the ears and belly of Grandpa's Shiba Inu. I didn't return my attention until Papa spoke directly to me. "Well, time for us to go, munchkin. Are you going to be good?"

I stood up, giving another quick pat to the dog's head. "I'll try," I told Papa with a grin. I stood on my tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Immediately afterwards, I did the same to Daddy. "I love you guys… Oh, and happy anniversary!"

"Thanks, and we love you too," my parents murmured in unison.

"You don't even need to ask if this one's going to be good," Grandma insisted, resting a hand on my shoulder. A mischievous smirk crept onto her lips. "Since your fifteenth anniversary is a very special event, I feel no shame telling you two to have fun. _Lots _of fun." She winked, and then burst into laughter when my parents' faces flushed a deep red color. I couldn't help but giggle myself, even if I was only vaguely aware of what she meant.

Once they recovered, Daddy and Papa gave final hugs to my grandparents and a kiss to both of my cheeks. They walked out the door hand-in-hand and Daddy Disapparated them away almost hesitantly. Grandma, Grandpa, and I all sat on the couch (me in the middle) and spent the next few minutes just catching up with each other.

"Can I get you anything, honey? A drink? Something to eat?" Grandma offered after concluding a story about the dog slipping her collar.

"No, thank you!" I answered with a shake to my head. When I reopened my eyes, they settled on a plain, thick, binder-like black book on the middle of the coffee table. Even though it was quite obviously old, the thing was in pretty good condition. Well, except for the fact that a white label displaying the word "_Family" _in neat blue letters was slightly peeled and yellowing. "What's that?" I questioned, pointing at it.

Grandpa's grin softened and he leaned over to pick up the book. "_This _is the Ueda family photo album. My mum started it, and I continued it with some help from my brother and sister and then your grandma… It's normally on a shelf in our bedroom, but I thought I might as well set it out here in case you'd be interested in checking it out," he explained with utmost pride. "Want to skim through it?"

I shook my head, looking up at him eagerly; my eyes surely must have been sparkling. "Skim? I _love _learning about this family, so do you think maybe you can like, give me a, I dunno, tour of the pictures?" Simply tweaking my cheek in response, Grandpa flipped open to the first page.

A single picture took up the entire center. Even though it wasn't in black and white, it seemed as if it had been taken very shortly after pictures in any color at all wereinvented. And oh yeah- being a picture from the magic world, it moved. I didn't recognize the people in the picture: a smiling, handsome Asian man in a dark tuxedo, kissing a beautiful (and _pregnant) _woman in an elegant wedding gown. "Those two right there are your great-grandparents. My mum was expecting your Great-Uncle Satoshi there," Grandpa indicated. I nodded slowly, obvious interest flickering in my eyes.

6 smaller pictures surrounded the wedding photo. They each displayed a baby- probably about a month old- then flashed out to show older kids. Instead of explaining _them _to me, though, Grandpa pointed to an image at the top of the page. It showed a happy family of 8, each of the kids looking perfectly identical to the ones that the baby photos changed to. "There are my parents again. The tallest boy is Uncle Satoshi; I'm next to him, with my hand on Aunt Sakura's shoulder; the girl hugging our dad's legs is Sana and those two toddlers are Sakito and Satoko."

I furrowed my eyebrows together and tilted my head. "Sana? Satoko? Sakito? Who are they…?"

Grandpa's expression saddened as he exchanged a look with Grandma. "Ah, that's right, you, Claire, and Genevieve never were told… They would have been your aunts and uncle. Many, _many _years ago, though, they were killed by a dragon along with my parents."

My hand flew to my mouth in shock. I knew that Grandpa had become an orphan when he was a young teenager, but I wasn't aware of the details… I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly to counter the tears that were automatically forming in my eyes. "That's so sad…. Next page…?" Grandma gave a small nod and flipped it.

The next 3 pages (including the back of the one just discussed) were covered with collages of slightly moving pictures. Looking at the three pages, I noticed that the later pictures were fewer and contained only teenage versions Grandpa, Uncle Satoshi, and Aunt Sakura… Seeing the mass of photographs- the family members on Christmas, playing with pets, making cookies, dressing up for Halloween, posing randomly for the camera, on vacation, Grandpa's parents kissing and/or hugging, plus many others- and knowing that all those pleasant times came to a crashing end was _heartbreaking._

One picture, though, caught my attention. It showed my great-grandfather, grinning and holding a brown haired toddler; a man with glasses and reddish-brown hair holding a tiny blonde girl and wearing a casual smile on his face; plus a rather intimidating man, apparently a few years older than the other two, with long, bleach-blonde hair and holding a male toddler with hair of the same color. Grandpa followed my gaze and motioned at the 6 people. "Your great-grandfather? Right here, he was only in his 20s, and holding a very young _me." _

"Really? Wow, you were so _cute! _Your baby picture was too, I just didn't mention it," I giggled.

"Well thank you," chuckled Grandpa. He rested his index finger on the cheery little blonde girl. "That girl right there was my best friend all throughout Hogwarts. _He,_" he moved his finger to the toddler in the scary man's arms, "was my best friend throughout childhood. Guess who they are."

"Besides your former best friends?"

Grandpa shook his head. "Oh, no, not former. We're still notably close. But, their names are Blaze and Draco. They… Are your Uncle Scorpius's parents."

I actually felt my jaw drop at least a bit. "Whoa, so wait, your two best friends got married, and then their son married your daughter? Oh my gosh, that is the cutest. thing. EVER!" I squealed. Grandma agreed with me as Grandpa rolled his eyes pleasantly and turned the page.

The next 2 pages of pictures were both taken at Hogwarts and separated into three groups: Uncle Satoshi and his friends; Grandpa and his friends; Aunt Sakura and her friends. There were lots of pictures containing Uncle Satoshi, but there was one of what I assumed to be his main group. He was with a stocky but kind-looking boy with spiky brown hair, a pair of red-haired freckled twin boys, a black boy with dreadlocks, a dirty blonde haired girl with glasses, and a pair of bleach-blonde twin girls. Grandpa immediately started going through them. "The girl that winks at Uncle Satoshi before going to hug her sister? That's your-"

"Aunt Catherin?" I inferred. Even years of aging couldn't prevent my uncle's wife from being recognizable.

"Bingo. And her twin sister? That's Justin's mum. The ginger boy she kisses before Catherin hugs her is Justin's biological father."

"Fred Weasley, right?" I confirmed. The story of how Fred dated Caitlyn for years, got engaged to her, but then died before he could find out that she was pregnant with his child _always _makes me want to cry.

"Right." After introducing me to the others in the picture (I won't talk about them simply because they aren't family), Grandpa moved onto the pictures of _his _friends. In one photo of him and his roommates (I figured that's who they were, seeing as they were all wearing Ravenclaw uniforms and were in the same dorm), he pointed at a boy with shaggy black hair. "That's Caitlyn's husband, Michael."

"Oh yeah, I can tell, actually!" I started bouncing up and down on the couch cushion. "So, one of your best friends ended up marrying your brother's wife's sister? That's cute too!"

Grandma laughed, briefly ruffling my hair before drawing my attention to another picture. It showed a younger Grandpa with a spectacled yellow-blonde-haired girl, and a pretty but young-looking girl with light brown hair and beautiful emerald-colored eyes. I immediately pointed to her and looked at Grandma. "That's _you, _isn't it?"

"It sure is," she told me with a nod. "And the third girl is Blaze." Except for around 3 with his Ravenclaw companions, all of the photos of Grandpa and his friends contained that trio from about year 1 to year 6. I personally found it adorable that my grandparents were best friends before they were in love, but figured I already overused the word "cute."

It was painfully notable that there were so many less pictures for Sakura and her friends than there were for her brothers. The only companions she had, it seemed, were 2 mouse-like Gryffindor boys. Grandpa pointed to the taller one. "That right there is your Uncle Colin. The other boy is his younger brother, Dennis."

Something seemed to immediately click in my head. "Dennis died, didn't he…? And then Uncle Colin and Aunt Sakura named their son after him?" My grandparents both nodded. _Okay, that is so sweet…_

The rest of the album is pretty straightforward. There was a page dedicated to Grandma and Grandpa's wedding ("You two were so YOUNG! Only 17…" I had gasped), a page dedicated to Uncle Satoshi and Aunt Catherin's (which took place at the same exact time and location as Michael and Caitlyn's), and a page dedicated to Aunt Sakura and Uncle Colin's. Next was a sheet that showed pictures of Grandma holding all 6 of her kids when they were newborn babies, Aunt Catherin with her 2 kids when _they _had just been born, and Aunt Sakura when she first adopted baby Dennis; on the back of that page were basically the same photos, except instead of Grandma, Aunt Catherin, and Aunt Sakura, it was Grandpa, Uncle Satoshi, and Uncle Colin.

Exactly 18 pictures were neatly situated on the following page. Grandma and Grandpa explained how, starting since Aunt Raye and Uncle Raito were babies, they took a family picture every single Christmas. They stopped, apparently, once the twins were 18. I found it cool, how they were able to visually look back on how much their family changed over the course of years…

The next 4 pages were exactly like the first few (you know, a collage of random pictures), except they were of Grandpa, Grandpa, and their children. I have to say, Daddy was the cutest bloody kid… The page afterward had 12 pictures: two from each of my grandparents' 6 kids' weddings. Once I observed them thoroughly enough, I turned the page to see photos from my cousin Sam's wedding and Justin's wedding. There was also a picture of Sam's sister with her only son, plus some of Justin and his wife with Colten, Ivan, and Brandon and then with their daughter.

I flipped the page to see all 5 of Daddy's siblings (plus their spouses) holding their children for the first time; smiling down at the infants, tickling their chins, that sort of stuff. There was also one of Daddy and Papa, balancing a baby version of myself on both of their laps. My eyes widened slightly at the image. "Blimey, I was such a skinny baby…" I'd seen plenty of my own baby pictures, of course, but none of when I was so little- and I'm not using the word "little" lightly. I was _puny._

"Mm, but your parents fattened you right up. Though you're starting to look so slim, darling," Grandma crooned, ruffling my hair. I smiled slightly at her and turned the page again.

A little more than 3 pages were taken up with even _more _collaged pictures, except these were obviously taken with a much more modern camera. Also, they were of my generation. Me with Claire, family reunions, Sai with the Weasley triplets, the Malfoy twins and Jasper at work… Photographs of those and more could be found here. The fourth page they covered, though, was only _half _covered, and the remaining 10 or so pages of the album were blank. "So, what else is gonna go in here?" I questioned, leisurely closing the book.

Grandpa shrugged, placing it back on the coffee table. "Time can only tell. Who knows? There could be a fourth, maybe even fifth and sixth generation of pictures in that thing." I felt myself blush as I pictured myself with a faceless husband and a child, posing for a picture.

"You know… As simple as pictures are, they're so… _brilliant. _It's amazing, how one image can trigger all these memories that make you feel all fuzzy and warminside," I murmured.

"Very well said," Grandma agreed, nodding gradually. A playful smile appeared on her face. "Now how about we look at _my _family photo album?" I smacked her arm very gently with a grin.

"Maybe, maybe."


	7. Chapter 7

I think I'm going to stick to the topic of staying at my grandparents' house, because there was one visit that quite possibly changed my life. It didn't take place very long after the last story- I was about 10 and a half at the time…

Daddy and Papa's anniversary had already passed, so I was surprised when they told me to pack my things for Grandma and Grandpa's. Surprised, and also a bit relieved. Something had obviously been going on with my parents lately. Their smiles, I could tell, were forced; Papa didn't look as glad to come home from work anymore; from the light bags under their slightly bloodshot eyes, I could tell they weren't getting much sleep; I would wake up in the middle of the night to hear them fighting incoherently. I tried my hardest to ignore it all and tell myself it was nothing, but the longer it went on, the more difficult it was.

"Oh, shit, I completely forgot. I'm supposed to be filling in for someone today," Papa cursed as he followed Daddy and me out onto the porch, pausing midstep and smacking his palm against his forehead. I couldn't help but cringe; although they were cussing a lot more frequently nowadays, I still never got used to hearing vulgar words come out of my parents' mouths. "I'm sorry Daisy, but I'll have to see you off here… I love you."

"I love you too, Papa," I replied. He kissed me on the cheek, and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck while briefly burying my face in his shoulder. Papa took a half step back toward the house before looking like he'd made a split-second decision.

"I love you, Kiseki," he breathed. To my shock, he leaned across the porch and kissed Daddy right on the lips…and Daddy kissed him back. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, exchanging some unspoken message, then Papa swept back inside. Daddy exhaled sadly through his nose and grabbed my hand to Disapparate us.

We appeared on my grandparents' front porch a mere 10 seconds later. It was the same routine: the dog barked, Grandma called the word "Coming," and she opened the door, all smiles. This time, though, that friendly grin faded immediately. "Where's Cyrus…?" she whispered, panic evident in her demeanor. _That _was certainly strange. She always greeted us before asking _anything. _

"He had to fill in for someone at work," Daddy assured her quietly. A great amount of relief visibly washed over Grandma.

"Oh, I see… I was afraid that-" She paused, glanced down at me, and shook her head dismissively. "Come in, dears."

Grandpa pushed himself up out of his armchair and joined us, a warm grin on his face. It was the same thing as Grandma: the smile faltered and alarm flooded across his expression. Grandma lightly placed her hand on his arm and whispered something to him. All I heard was the word "working," but whatever she told him, it restored his deportment to what it had been when we entered the room.

"So has everything… been okay?" Yet another thing that was off. Normally, Grandma would ask this in a casual tone, but now she just sounded concerned.

Daddy reached down and absently started stroking his hand over my hair (that was a funny nervous habit of his. It was as if comforting _me _comforted _him_). "Better… It's been better. Quieter. I'll call you later, keep you updated," Daddy murmured. My grandparents nodded slowly, biting their lips lightly. "I'm going to go now. Be good, love," Daddy indicated before anything else could be said. I stood on my tiptoes to a deliver a kiss to his cheek, and he was gone.

"Honey, has something been…. up? With Daddy and Papa?" Grandma questioned quietly, once all three of us were settled down with cups of tea.

I froze before bringing my hot beverage to my lips, my eyebrows furrowing slightly toward each other. "…They fight sometimes, nowadays," I told her simply. I took a long sip of tea before adding, "But it's always when I'm not in the room, so I don't know what any of them are about."

Grandpa and Grandma exchanged a glance, a silent agreement passing between them. "Well then, would you like to take Nilla for a walk?" offered Grandpa after a good minute of rare awkward silence. The dog in question perked up, wagging her tail at the sound of her name. The smile that appeared on my face as I set my teacup down on a coaster was partially forced.

I tried to push the worrying thoughts involving my parents to the back of my head, and surprisingly, I succeeded. The visit with my grandparents was proving to be a pleasant one…until that night. Tired from burning off a delicious dinner by chasing Nilla around the yard for half an hour, I felt my eyelids droop almost the second Grandma tucked me into bed. For whatever reason, though, it was one of those nights where I just couldn't fall asleep.

Unfortunately, that meant I heard the entire conversation that was being held down the hall.

"I can't believe what's going on," Grandpa huffed.

"What are you talking about, honey…?"

I could just tell that Grandpa stared right through his wife at this part. "You know what I'm talking about: Kiseki and Cyrus's situation." My heart skipped a beat. What situation? "I hate society. I really do! Making Kiseki question his love for the man he married…"

"It's ridiculous, isn't it?" sighed Grandma. "Kiseki loves Cyrus with all his heart and he knows it."

From Grandpa's changing volume, I knew he was pacing back and forth. "But all the pressure from those damn homophobes out there is messing with his mind. Remember a couple weeks ago, he was trying to convince us that being gay was wrong? He hasn't openly worried about the righteousness of his sexuality since he came out thirty-some years ago! I think he was trying to persuade himself as much as us."

"Which is bloody _stupid, _if you ask me," insisted Grandma. "If he and Cyrus split up, it would break his heart. Why would he _want _to be heartbroken?"

"Because there are _so _many people out there who think that homosexuality is a sin. But I can't see why Kiseki is starting to agree with them! Think about it. My first love was Draco Malfoy. My _father _had a crush on a man when he was a teenager. Raito dated Justin for a while… Not to mention how much Kiseki and Cyrus utterly love each other. His _family_ doesn't think it's wrong…"

"Have you said this to Kiseki?"

"Yes! And he said that 'he knows.' I never use a threat as harsh as this, but I sincerely hope every single person who has helped put these doubts in Kiseki's mind burns in Hell, because let me tell you, he was almost in tears when he told me that he and Cyrus were considering divorce."

Oh my god. Oh my _god. _Did he say what I thought he said? He couldn't have…. Oh, but he did. My parents…. who loved each other so, _so _much, and provided me with a happy family… wanted to get a divorce.

I sat bolt upright as the reality of the whole thing stung me like a thousand little wasps. Which parent would see me off when I boarded the Hogwarts Express every year? Which parent would whisper comforting words to me when I had a nightmare? Which parent would take me out for ice cream on my birthday? Which parent would brush my hair for special occasions? Most importantly, which parent would I live with?

That right there made me shudder visibly. Living without both Papa _and _Daddy… It was unimaginable. I don't know much about the whole divorce process, yet I figured I was old enough to have some say in custody agreements. They might let me choose between my fathers… As impossible as that would be, I couldn't help but start debating over who I would select. Papa had a job and was a better cook… Though Daddy was a wizard and had the family I loved so much… Otherwise, what was there? They were both equally as funny, affectionate, nurturing, and stern. Tears jumped into my eyes as I fully realized how impossible picking just _one _parent to be raised by would be.

I fell back onto my pillow, yanking the blanket over my head and whimpering quietly. _Go to sleep. You don't need to think about this now. When you wake up, it'll all be okay, _I told myself. I bit my quivering lip and uneasily nodded off to sleep.

I ended up having a dream in which I didn't have to choose between my parents. Because both of them were dead.


	8. Chapter 8

You know how everyone always has at least one period in their lifetime where it feels as if nothing makes sense anymore, and everything is falling apart? For me, that was the eleventh year of my life. Why, you ask? Where do I even begin.

Well, first off, there was the whole thing with Claire getting accepted into Hogwarts while I found out I had no magical abilities. _That _was pretty heartbreaking. I'll go into the full details of our parting later.

And that was barely the beginning. Daddy and Papa were _still _fighting. Thanks to some spy cameras I borrowed from Sai, I know that when they were home and I wasn't, all they would do is yell at each other. Thankfully, that stopped after a week… But instead they resorted to just avoiding one another.

However, when they were around me, they put every effort forth to be together as much as possible and pathetically attempted to act as if all their bickering never occurred. Their smiles were so meek and forced, though, and the atmosphere was so tense, that one of them usually ended up leaving the room in tears.

Papa, for one, found a way to escape the reality of having his relationship with his husband slip away: a little something called alcohol.

I'm not positive on when this new interest of his started. He just came home from the grocery store one day with a box of beer bottles, and after Daddy ignored him all three times that he said "hello," he popped one open and downed the revolting beverage. I guess I'm glad it isn't worse… I mean, he only has a couple beers every week.

I'd still prefer he had _none. _

Really, I should be grateful that Daddy didn't take up the habit too. I honestly bet he would have, if alcohol didn't clash so horribly with all the medication he had to take in his childhood.

The kids at my stupid Muggle school just made everything worse. They were in that age group where they become mature- or _im_mature, depending on your definition. There were a few new words in their vocabularies, you see, and they were quick to use them against me.

"Hey, blondie. Where's your tough little friend?" I looked up from the flowers I was doodling in my notebook while sitting on a picnic bench during recess. It was kids like the ones approaching me that Claire always had to chase off…. The fact that she was long gone and that I had no other companions at this school- especially not ones that would protect me like her- suddenly made me feel painfully alone.

"…She's in boarding school," I answered hesitantly.

"Hnn… Do you miss her?"

"Yes… Very much, why?"

The leader of this little gang ignored the second half of my reply. "Who is she to you again?"

"My cousin…" What was with all these questions? I was really starting to get freaked out. Especially when all 3 boys smirked viciously.

"You two must be super close, if she saved your fat arse throughout _all _these years."

I tightened the grip on my pencil- people very rarely picked on me for the fact that I used to be so chubby, and I found that it was an extremely sensitive topic.

"Are you sure she isn't your little lesbian lover?" taunted one of them.

Okay, EW!I practically choked. "She's my _cousin!_" I reminded them, completely appalled.

"Come on. You're such a loser that you have no choice but to have a little incest romance."

"Besides, it's not like you can be straight when you're raised by two gaylords."

_Snap. _There went my pencil, along with my cool. "All of you can _BURN IN HELL_!" I screamed feverishly, slamming my palms against the picnic table as I bolted to my feet.

And that's how I ended up in the headmaster's office, even though I was the one being bullied.

I sat on a plastic chair out in the hallway, hugging my knees tightly against my chest, as a recess aid explained the situation to the headmaster. I half-heartedly threw the occasional glance over my shoulder through the window in order to see what was going on… My heart skipped a beat when I saw that he was making a phone call. _Please don't be what I think it is…_

"Please come with me, Ms. Ueda. We're going to take a walk down to the counseling office… Your parents will meet us there," the headmaster told me softly, sticking his head out the door.

Oh bloody heck. It _was _what I thought it was.

Miserably, I followed after the man as he led me to the office that I had never before set foot in. He opened the door for me, flashed a sympathetic smile, and shut the door behind me. Feeling as if all my bones had been replaced with paper, I gradually looked around the unfamiliar room. It was quite nice, really… A circular table with little toys like a Rubik's Cube set on it took up the center; the wall was lined with a neatly organized bookshelf; the counselor was sat at her desk, hands resting on the keyboard of her computer; posters with motivational messages hung all over; an overall feeling of coziness lingered in the air.

I couldn't help but feel like it was a sense of false security.

The warm, motherly smile that appeared on the counselor's aged face when she turned to face me barely fazed me. "Daisy, dear. Have a seat, please. I'm going to finish up here," she motioned at her computer screen, "until your parents get here, okay?" In response I simply gulped and made my way into one of the chairs by the circular table, hardly aware of myself.

I sat there in silence, absently playing around with an Etch-a-Sketch while the counselor- Mrs. Green, according to her overly colorful nametag- typed away on her keyboard. What felt like years later, there was a feeble knock on the door and in walked Daddy and Papa. I froze as if Petrified when my eyes briefly met theirs.

"Ah, you must be Mr. and… erm…"

"Just call us Kiseki and Cyrus. It's easier," Papa murmured. Huh. I never realized how awkward it must be, having to both be called Mr. Ueda… It never came up, I guess.

"Kiseki and Cyrus," Mrs. Green repeated, as if testing out the names. She nodded slightly, spinning her chair to face us and rolling it over so that she sat at the head of the table. "Please, sit. Make yourselves comfortable." I was pretty positive that even though the seats were super cushioned, neither of my fathers would be comfortable at all. This was only further confirmed when they sat on either side of me, obviously avoiding sitting beside each other.

"Is everything okay?" Daddy asked immediately, his hands nervously gripping the arms of his chair.

Although her smile remained, obvious concern flashed across Mrs. Green's eyes. "Well, on the playground today, a few boys were harassing your daughter." You would think she just diagnosed me with cancer from the mutual look on Daddy and Papa's faces. "She told them to… burn in Hell. But I didn't call you here because of her language… I called you here because Daisy has always been a good, quiet girl, so that _she _would have such an outburst shot up red flags."

How did she know it was out of character of me to snap like that? I admit, I never grew out of the belief that teachers have special magic powers and know _everything. _"Daisy, sweetie… Is something going on that you need to discuss?" I didn't want to tell this woman anything; after all, she was a stranger. Yet I knew that I should, and felt that I had to…..

Any self control that I harnessed suddenly vanished. All my feelings just poured out of my mouth like water gushing out of a broken dam. "There's a bunch of stuff… Like, Claire left. I know I can see her over holidays, but I feel so _alone _when I'm not seeing her at school every day… A-and the other kids have always teased me… I never listened to them, though. I knew that they didn't really know me. But… What if what they say is true? What if I _am _a worthless loser?" Whoa, what was I saying? Since when did I have _those _thoughts? I guess I always denied them, but they leapt to the front of my mind upon opening up. The theory that such negative emotions dwelled in the back of my head kind of scared me.

"Daisy…! Oh, love… You are _not _worthless at all!" Papa insisted desperately.

"You mean everything to us," Daddy added. Ah, here we go.

"Okay, maybe I don't really think bad things about myself… But I might someday. I dunno. What I _do _know… is that I only doubt anything now that I never doubted before because of you guys."

Ooh, _that _hit the bull's-eye. I admit, though… The amount of guilt that burst inside of me when I saw how devastated my parents looked was too immense to describe. "But it isn't your fault," I added quickly. Great, now I was starting to cry… I still needed to get this across.

I looked back and forth between my fathers, all-too-real tears shimmering in my eyes. "I know I'm happy as I am, just like you guys know you're happy being in love. I never listened to the mean things the other kids say, 'cause I know they're wrong… But now I'm starting to, since _you _listen to all the people that say only boys and girls can be together."

My parents exchanged a glance that showed they were taken off guard. Oh, right… They didn't know what I was aware of. I drew in a shaky deep breath. "I know that you've been thinking about divorce for a long time now. What I don't know is _why_? You two used to be so HAPPY together! Do you… Do you not love each other anymore?" It would make sense, seeing as they could barely stand to be in the other's presence nowadays, but I needed to hear it from them.

"That isn't it," they answered immediately. For a moment, their eyes met over my head, and I could've sworn Daddy blushed.

"Then what is?!" I demanded. I hadn't raised my voice like that at my parents since I was a little girl, fussing over something stupid… Before I could apologize, though, Papa was answering my question.

"We just want what's best for you, honey," he whispered. Daddy nodded slowly.

"There are a lot of people out there- some that shouldn't affect our lives, and some that are really important people- that disagree with people that are, erm,"

"You can say 'gay.' I know that's what you are," I murmured. Daddy bit his lip lightly.

"There are a lot of people out there who are against _gay _people like your papa and I. They'll treat you differently because of us, and-"

"Daddy. I know. They already do. But I told you, I really don't care!" I didn't know if being so cross with my parents made me feel good or guilty. "You want what's best for me, right? Well, happiness is best, and I'll only be happy if you two are together! I-I miss when I would come home from school, and you," I looked at Daddy, "wouldn't look dead like you do these days- you'd look legitimately happy to see me. Then Papa would come home, and I'd give him a big hug, then you'd come in the room and the two of you would kiss…"

Both of my parents blushed, glancing awkwardly at Mrs. Green, but I wasn't going to stop there; I was on a roll. "Then you'd help each other with dinner, and all three of us would talk about our days, and we'd sit down together and eat with big smiles on our faces…" So many tears were cascading down my face at this point that I could barely see. "I just want you to stop listening to what other stupid people say, and listen to yourselves! Listen to _me! _I need you to be all lovey-dovey and happy like you used to!"

Silence.

"…Daisy… Honey, is that really how you feel?" Papa asked under his breath after what felt like forever. I nodded, gulping and bringing my forearm up to scrub the tears off my face. Daddy, however, beat me to it by gently wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

"Of course it is… I l-love you guys, and you guys love each other, so I just want you to realize that…"

"Oh, lord… We're such _idiots… _We were so sure we knew what was best for you that we didn't even bother talking to you about it… I guess we thought that since all the anti-gay beliefs affected our opinion, it would affect _yours._ It was like we totally disregarded your actual opinion... I'm so _sorry…_" Daddy gasped, tears forming in his emerald eyes as he gently gripped my hand.

"Please don't be sorry…" I slowly looked back and forth between him and Papa. "Just promise me that you two will love each other forever, and not be ashamed of it," I immediately responded.

For a moment, my parents' gazes just bore into each other's. Then they both sighed quietly, and Papa put his arm around my shoulders while Daddy kissed my temple. "I promise," they told me. For the first time in about a year, all three of us embraced in unison.

I forgot Mrs. Green was even in the room until she murmured something to Papa and Daddy about referring them to a marriage counselor. I jumped slightly, pouting at our interrupted sentimental moment. "Now Daisy, I recommend you come visit me here sometime this week so we can talk a little more. Still, if you ever want to discuss anything at any other time, I'd be more than happy to help," Mrs. Green said softly after handing Papa some sort of business card. I simply nodded, standing up since Daddy and Papa were doing the same.

They shared a few more words with the counselor; I hugged each of them tightly and then made my way back into the hallway. I headed off back to my class, clasping a hall pass in my hand… But not before seeing Papa and Daddy share a kiss in the parking lot.

So there you have it. After a few sessions of therapy, my parents and I were perfectly happy again. Of course, that didn't mean there wouldn't still be other family drama….


End file.
